Sociological Perspectives on Cult Leaders

1039 Words3 Pages

Society strives to feel a sense of belonging. We want to be a part of something that shares the same beliefs as us. We spend our time trying to place ourselves in a group to satisfy these needs, whether it is in a hobby club, a group of friends, or religion. Some people go to more extreme measures and find this in what we call a cult. According to Henslin, a cult is a new or different religion whose teachings and practices put it at odds with the dominant culture and religion. (2013:405) Cults are often identified with the ideas of mass murder, deviant behaviors, unusual beliefs, and extremely devoted members. Cults are also highly known for their leaders. The leaders of cults usually are the ones that portray the image for the entire group. Successful cults take a strong-minded and, according to Max Weber, charismatic leader. The members in a cult most usually follow the leader and not the ideas of the leader. They are there to make the leader happy and to make them happy they become a follower and practice the same beliefs as the leader. “Cults often originate with a charismatic leader, an individual who inspires people because he or she seems to have extraordinary gifts, qualities, or abilities.” (Henslin 2013:405) The leader of the group is usually seen as something more than human to the followers, such as a God or that they are connected to God in some way. The leader possesses the ability to give them salvation and save them from damnation. “People feel drawn to both the person and the message because they find something highly appealing about the individual-in some instances, almost a magnetic charm.” (Henslin 2013:405) Without the leader the members feel like there is no way they can be saved. They use conflict theory ... ... middle of paper ... ...es use their power to control the weaker groups” (Henslin 2013:21). The leaders try to find the same type of recruits for the cult. They all possess the same type of attributes that make them more susceptible to being a candidate for becoming a cult member. Cult leaders are very smart and strong minded individuals that use manipulation to get what they want and follow what they believe in. People will go to extreme measures to follow their beliefs. References Frymer-Kensky, T. 1985. Moses and the Cults: The Question of Religious Leadership. Judaism, 34(4), 444. Henslin, James M. 2009 Essential of Sociology:A Down-to-Earth Appraoch. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson. Layton, Julia. "How Cults Work" 13 April 2006. HowStuffWorks.com. 12 November 2013. Palahniuk, Chuck. 1996 Fight Club. New York: W.W. Norton

Show More
Related

  • Cults In Jonestown And Heaven's Gate

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some say that cults are all religious and work together, in fact the definition of a cult is “a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object”, yet this can vary. Cults are not all religious or trying to reach a spiritual goal and in a lot of cases it is mostly all about one goal that is completely derived off his followers. Most cult leaders are so infatuated with their goals that they truly believe the psychological damage they are causing is good for the world (Cults). As seen in Jonestown and Heaven’s Gate, cults tend to use psychological skills to torment, manipulate and brainwash their members to grow stronger and reach the leader’s ultimate goal.

    Read More

  • Cults In Puritan Society

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are numerous different kinds of social groups in the world, but clearly not all of them are cults. So what makes a cult a cult? [So where is the distinction?] Where is the metaphorical line drawn and what has to be done to cross it? Cult psychological experts Joseph Salande and David Perkins say the differences between a cult and a group are the methods of control and the negative effects on its members (Salande and Perkins 382). They define cults as “groups that often exploit members psychologically

    Read More

  • The Cult You’re In

    1918 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyone is in a consumer’s hypnosis, even if you think you are not. When you go to a store and pick one brand over the other, you are now under their spell. The spell/ hypnosis is how companies get you to buy there things over other companies and keep you hooked. Either through commercials or offering something that you think will make your life better by what they tell you. For example, you go to the store and you need to buy water, once you get to the lane and look, there is 10 different types of water you can buy. You go pick one either because the picture is better or you seen the commercial the other day and you want it. During the length of this paper we will talk about two important writers, Kalle Lasn the writer of “The Cult You’re in” and Benoit Denizet-Lewis writer of “ The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch”. They both talk about similar topics that go hand and hand with each other, they talk about the consumers “Dream”, how companies recruit the consumers, who cult members really are, how people are forced to wear something they don’t want, and about slackers.

    Read More

  • The Jonestown Massacre: Jim Jones

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    A cult society is an organization that basically disguises itself as a religion. In a cult, they normally perform rituals. There are usually many people in these societies. In Jim Jones’s cult, there were at least one thousand people in this community.

    Read More

  • Cults and Their Leaders

    4160 Words  | 9 Pages

    For many years, cult leaders always had a psychological hold on their followers' minds. Whether it was to kill other people or to kill themselves, they did it without question. Some cult leaders used fear, violence and guilt as a means of a weapon to control the minds of their followers. Other cult leaders used persuasive and spiritual speeches that made their followers believe they were doing good and fulfilling God's plan. Because cult leaders are powerful through psychological offenses, the people that belong to their cults are brainwashed into doing things they wouldn't normally do in their right state of mind.

    Read More

  • Jonestown

    2195 Words  | 5 Pages

    Cults have existed throughout history since the beginning of time. A cult is defined in Webster’s dictionary as a “system of religious worship with a devoted attachment to a person, principle, etc.” Over the past thirty years numerous religious cults have caused “ tens of thousands to abandon their families, friends, education’s, and careers to follow the teaching of a leader they will never meet”(Beck 78).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Cult You Re In

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine living in a society where everything is uniform. Anything you wear, eat or think is controlled. Then you realize that your life is not actually yours. This sounds bizarre, but it’s true. Without knowing it, everyone dreams of the same things in life; the perfect job, the perfect family, or the perfect house. We may not all agree to this, but the fact is that we all dream the same dream. In some way, we are all part of one big “cult” because our desires are similar to one another. When the word “cult” comes to mind, it has a negative connotation. American society makes most of its profits by the use of advertisements. In Kalle Lasn’s essay “The Cult You’re In,written in 1996, he uses rhetorical tactics such as ethos, pathos, and logos to illustrate how ads increase a person’s desire for goods and services that he or she may not want. There are some aspects of as in his essay that are rhetorically effective; however, there are some aspects of his essay that are not.

    Read More

  • The Heaven's Gate Cult

    511 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to dictionaries a cult is 1) a system of religious worship or ritual. 2) A religion or sect considered extremist of false. 3) Obsessive devotion to a person or principle. It is believed that every cult ties into some kind of religion, and religions all have a common basis of “a leap of faith”. Whether this so-called leap of faith is going to heaven or being reincarnated, or moving on to some other planet, depends on the beliefs of the cult itself.

    Read More

  • Utopia As A Dystopian Society

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    The cult sacrifices innocent people for their own self-amusement to appease Satin. Both Oceania and Matamoros attempts to create a perfect society so they can carry out their immoral plans. The totalitarian leaders try to convince the followers/citizens what they want but actually they are victims of constant surveillance, and freedoms restricted.

    Read More

  • Conformity In The Chrysalids

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    Abused power by leaders has the potential to influence human beings into persecuting and discriminating against others. A person who has control over others has the potential to guide them away from morality, resulting in oppression. Groups in society who demonstrate abusive power are called cults; they trap people in a feeling of artificial security. Those who seek a way to cope with life’s difficulties and escape responsibilities will turn to morally corrupt leaders in order to feel a sense of belonging and have others make decisions for them. In the novel, The Chrysalids, the community of Waknuk turns to Joseph Storm for approval and guidance, rather than acting on their own instinct and decisions. This society attempts to convince others that authority figures are the only ones who are “in a position to judge whether the next step was a rediscovery, and so, safe to take; or whether it deviated.” (Chrysalids, 40) Religious cults victimize those who are unlike or question their beliefs and force or deceive others into accepting their strict traditions. Cults turn to the weak and corrupt their minds, influencing them into degrading others for their own beliefs. Nevertheless, not all cults target people, there are several who treat people with a false sense of affection in order to brainwash them into persecuting others. Religious fanaticism and extremism has the potential to guide

    Read More

  • Social Psychology and Cults

    2134 Words  | 5 Pages

    A cult is defined as a social group or a social movement under one charismatic leader. It maintains a belief system, which includes a transformation of a group member. Members of the group have a high level of commitment to the leader, members, and beliefs (Lalich). An additional definition to consider is from the American Journal of Psychotherapy:

    Read More

  • The Hunger Games: Is It Better To Be A Leader?

    333 Words  | 1 Pages

    Some people in the world are leaders and some are followers. Most people would like to be leaders but

    Read More

  • Why people join cults

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    A cult is a structured group, most of whose members demonstrate unquestionable loyalty to a dynamic leader. The cult leader governs most, if not all, aspects of the lives o...

    Read More

  • Cults Essay

    1534 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout our history, cults have become a prevalent part of our society. More and more cults are forming every day. Although not all of them are dangerous, some can perform practices that are toxic to their members. Cults use fear and control to gain more and more members. Once members join a cult, they are forced to perform the practices that the cult leaders require. It is through these practices that cult leaders convince their members to stay in the cult. Through mind control and scare tactics, cults have become a very powerful and dangerous part of our society.

    Read More

  • Cult Essay

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cults are most commonly known and practiced as a system of religious worship and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. Cults represent a worldwide epidemic of ideological totalism and fundamentalism. Typically cults target and recruit young adolescences, who are generally confused, curious, and looking for a place to belong and somewhere where they feel important. The naive and vulnerable youth are less likely to see through the cults layers of deceit. However not all youth are endangered from being recruited into a cult, only the ones who are easily persuaded and managed are the ones that are drawn and brought into a cult. Once accepted into a cult, the use of milieu control; control of all communication- slowly starts to separate members from the “outside”. This process is maintained through an intense group process, making the person spend as much time with their cult and as little time and communication with the “outside”. By increasingly inviting and making the people go to a sequence of events, seminars, lectures and encounters, making leaving a cult extremel...

    Read More

More about Sociological Perspectives on Cult Leaders

Open Document